Cake Conundrum
by AquaTurquoise
Summary: Sofia asks Cedric to help make her mom a cake for her birthday, but there's a catch: she wants a cake made from scratch, so that means no magic. How is the Royal Sorcerer going to handle that?


Cake Conundrum

Summary: Sofia asks Cedric to help make her mom a cake for her birthday, but there's a catch: she wants a cake made from scratch, so that means no magic. How is the Royal Sorcerer going to handle that?

Disclaimer: I do not own the show…or cake. :( Soon… :D

A/N: This story started off as a bit of a joke. Lol. I have a tendency to make pretty terrible cakes if I'm using the boxed mixes. Either my cakes will sink in the middle or they'll end up uneven/slanted…or the icing will rip off the top layer of the cake. It never fails. But if I make cakes from _scratch_ , they turn out just fine. Go figure! So that's the basis for this story… Hope you like it!

"How long do we have to make this thing?"

"A few hours."

"A _few_ _hours_?!"

Sofia giggled guiltily as Cedric gaped at her from across the counter in the kitchen. "Well… You were busy with your potion earlier."

Cedric gave his friend a pointed look before sighing. "Very well… I suppose this calls for a little magic then." He grinned and held up his wand.

The princess shook her head, making the Royal Sorcerer of Enchancia stare at her in surprise. "We can't use magic, Mr. Cedric."

"W-Why not?"

"My mom likes things made from the heart, and if we make a cake from scratch _without_ magic, then it would mean a lot to her." She smiled innocently as her mentor continued staring at her. "…Please?"

Cedric lowered his wand and still appeared confused. "But… I don't know how to make a cake without magic."

She giggled. "It isn't hard. Here, I'll show you." She slid from the stool she'd been sitting on and walked over to a large bag of flour. "Let's start here."

A few minutes later, the sorcerer still seemed baffled… Sofia had managed to get a large mixing bowl full of flour, sugar, and who-knows-what-else in there. Cedric watched as she added a touch of vanilla and something he assumed was a type of heavy cream. He shook his head as he watched the girl mix everything together, sending flour and other mixtures flying from the bowl and onto the table and even her apron. "Are you _sure_ you don't want to use magic, Sofia?"

"Mr. Cedric," she sighed with a patient smile, "I'm sure… I know it may not look all that pretty, but trust me. Mom will like it no matter what."

He smirked. "If that's the case," he started with a flick of his wand, "what she doesn't know won't hurt her."

Sofia giggled. "And that's why you're always getting into trouble!"

"Trust me, dear girl… Magic cake baking is the least of my troubles." He twirled the wand around his fingers before looking toward the cookbook she was using. "Well, let's make a compromise, shall we?"

"Okay?" Sofia blinked as he pointed toward the icing directions in the book.

"You can make your cake however you wish, but how about I make a special 'Cedric-created chocolate icing' to go with it?"

"Without magic?"

He chuckled and hid the wand behind his back. "Sure, why not?"

She nodded happily. "That's the spirit, Mr. Cedric!"

While the cake was baking (after a bit of assistance from Chef Andre, who feared the magical duo may very well either harm themselves or destroy his kitchen in some manner), Sofia watched Cedric struggling with the creation of his icing. She grinned. "Need some help?"

"No, no! I've got this." He pulled on the lid to a bottle of what appeared to be sprinkles, straining to get it open. "Oh, for Merlin's sake! Even the strongest person in the world couldn't open these blasted things…"

"Let me try." Sofia took the bottle from her mentor and twisted it to the left, opening it with ease. She started laughing when she saw the look on his face. "You were turning it the wrong way," she explained humorously as Cedric eyed the offensive bottle.

"…Oh. Well, then! Thank you." He took the bottle back, shook a few sprinkles into the chocolate, and glanced at his icing mix in a bowl. "Now then, I suppose I just…blend it?"

"Mm-hmm!"

"Right." Thoughtlessly, he pulled out his wand and held it over the bowl.

Sofia gasped. "Mr. Cedric!"

"What?!" He paused, realizing what he was doing. "Oh…right." He grinned guiltily. "But…it's technically not _baking_ right now…just mixing."

The girl folded her arms. "Magic is magic, Mr. Cedric."

"Oh, fine." He sheathed his wand once more and grabbed a wooden spoon, hesitantly lowering it into the chocolate icing mix and beginning to stir it. After a few minutes, he got the hang of it, and a smile broke out on his face. "Hey! This isn't so hard."

Sofia smiled proudly. "I told you!"

"Maybe I should do this for all the birthdays."

The princess giggled uncertainly. "Let's not get ahead of ourselves…"

Not much later, the cake finished baking and was set on the counter to cool. Once it was an appropriate temperature, Sofia handed a spatula to Cedric.

"I'll give you the honor of spreading your chocolate icing onto the cake."

He smirked. "Well, the honor is mine, Princess." He took the spatula and gathered his chocolate concoction before gently spreading it onto the cake, smoothing it out rather neatly. He smiled excitedly. "It's not ruined!"

Sofia giggled. "Of course it isn't. You did it all right, without magic. I'm proud of you, Mr. Cedric."

Cedric beamed. "Thanks, Sofia."

That night, Miranda watched excitedly as the beautifully-made cake arrived to the table in the midst of her birthday presents. She gasped. "Wow, this looks delicious!" She smiled toward Sofia. "Did you make this, Sofia?"

"I had a lot of help from Mr. Cedric." She smiled up at her mentor, who'd gotten to stay for a while. "And he did it _without_ magic."

"That's quite a feat indeed," Baileywick joked lightly, smiling. "Good job, Cedric."

"Well, thank you, Baileywick." He smirked. "I bet you couldn't bake a cake quite as wonderfully as Princess Sofia and I did."

"Oh, is that a challenge I hear?" The steward glanced toward Roland, who seemed amused with their back and forth exchange. "We'll see about that, Cedric. Next birthday, we'll see." He smirked.

Roland rolled his eyes before smiling at his wife. "Happy birthday, Miranda."

"Yeah, happy birthday, Mom!" James agreed as he sat directly in front of the cake. "Can we eat now?"

Amber shook her head. "Oh, James…"

Miranda laughed. "Thank you all. And Cedric." She nodded gratefully toward both Sofia and the sorcerer. "Nice job."

He smiled. "Thank you, Queen Miranda."

The end

A/N: And with that, I'm off to find some cake. :D Luckily, September is like "birthday month" for a lot of my family and friends, so finding cake shouldn't be an issue. Lol. Hope you all enjoyed, and keep an eye out for the second chapter of "Forever Young." It may be up this weekend, but I'm still working on it. And if I'm really feeling ambitious…then "Shadow" may make its appearance. We'll see. ;) Later! ~AquaTurquoise


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